Call
by Isskar
Summary: Beka wants Tyr. Tyr wants Beka. Wackiness insues. Please Read and Review.
1. Default Chapter

CALL  
  
Everything was changing. Everything HAD changed. And Tyr knew exactly when and how. It had started the day Beka had asked him to teach her about Nietzschean culture.  
  
"Why?" He had asked bluntly. Her response had surprised him even more than her question.  
  
"'Know thy friend, know thy enemy, let neither have the better of thee.'...What!?" she asked when he said nothing. "Just because I'm Human doesn't mean I can't read."  
  
"I know that." He responded haughtily. "I was simply shocked that a Human would be interested in Nietzschean culture and know the works of Drago Musivini."  
  
"Not all of them," she admitted, "but I'm working on it. So will you teach me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
That was how everything started. From then on, every off duty hour was spent together reading, talking, arguing about any and everything Nietzschean. Looking back on it now, his acceptance was probably a mistake. A deep friendship had developed between them during their last months together. That friendship, coupled with things Tyr had only recently learned to admit, could only lead to mistakes that he didn't want to make. Mistakes that if made, would cause him to loose Beka forever. Love among Nietzscheans was a rare occurrence, but it did happen. He knew Beka would never claim him as her mate so there was only one thing he could do.  
  
Something was different, and Beka Valentine didn't know what. Where was Tyr when she needed him? She would be able to figure out what it was if he was here. Tyr had become a good sounding board for her thoughts in the past half year. Tyr had become a good everything to her in the past 6 months. It had begun with her lessons. No, it hadn't she realized. She had gone to him for the lessons because it had already started and she had wanted a way to be closer to him. Trance had suggested it. The only problem was that it had worked. Her plan had been to become friends with him; he had been way to standoff-ish when he first arrived. Her plan had not been to fall in love with the man she discovered.  
  
She had watched his manner change over the months. Once she got him to stop saying 'you're not a Nietzschean you would not understand' every time she asked him a question and actually got him to explain, their times together had been wonderful. But now something was different. Whenever they were together she could feel it in him. Nothing wrong, just something different.  
  
The nest morning, at Dylan's behest, the entire crew of the Andromeda was in the meeting room.  
  
"I have been contacted by representatives of the Soku government." He began, "they have expressed an interest in joining our new Commonwealth. Rommie has already altered our course so we should get there this time tomorrow."  
  
"But can we trust them?" Harper asked. "Remember what happened last time we went to visit some people who wanted to join up?" They were all silent for a moment. It had been a trap and they had barely escaped with their lives.  
  
"We all remember Harper. But if we don't go then we loose a potential ally. Besides," he added, "the Soku don't have many friends so they won't want to make an enemy of us."  
  
"Why don't they have friends?" Trance asked, "Are they bad?", her purple tail swaying nervously.  
  
"Not at all Trance," said Rommie, "The Soku don't have many friends  
because  
they are outcasts. About 270 years ago, a Nietzschean male, soon to  
be an Alpha of his pride, fell in love with a Human woman. He  
renounced his ties to his pride and asked the woman to marry him, she  
accepted and they went to the then uninhabited planet of Soku. Once  
there they announced that Soku was a haven for all interspecies  
couples who had been rejected by their peoples and that any and all  
were welcome. It did not take long before couples were flocking there  
by the hundreds. It is populated mostly by Humans and Nietzscheans,  
but there are also Perseids, Than, and even a few Nightsiders; and of  
course the mixed species offspring. All the races and mixtures  
thereof live peacefully and Soku now has a prosperous economy and fits  
all our requirements to join the Commonwealth."  
  
"Now that you've all had your history lesson for today lets get back to work. We've been invited to meet the Soku Chancellor for lunch tomorrow so be ready to go planetside. Dismissed." With that, Dylan nodded his head and left the room.  
  
As they all rose to leave Beka could see that Tyr was troubled. She followed him into the lift. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" she finally asked.  
  
"Konstantine brought great shame to our pride with his aberration. He is not spoken of."  
  
"He was a Kodiak?" Beka couldn't keep the shock from her voice.  
  
"Yes." His voice was gruff. "If you don't mind Beka, I need no be alone right now." His voice had taken on a softer quality.  
  
"Of course not." She said and stepped aside so he could exit the lift. She could feel that something different again. It must be the idea of Humans mating with Nietzscheans, she thought. His disgust with interspecies relationships was something she had come to terms with, but something she would never understand. She sighed. Tyr was right, it was because she was Human. 


	2. 2

Back in his quarters, Tyr sat on the edge of his bed, his head in his hands. He was dreading this upcoming visit to Soku. Not because he didn't want to associate with Nietzcheans who had Human mates, as he was certain all the crew thought, but because he wanted a Human woman who would never take him as her mate. He didn't want to be reminded of that every time he saw a Nietzschean male and a Human woman together on that planet. Tyr's head sunk lower towards his chest as he sighed. When he had first discovered his feelings for Beka he had struggled to repress them. He had heard every thing he was ever taught shouting against it.  
  
Genetic perfection. Breed. Excellent DNA. Breed with excellent DNA, achieve genetic perfection. Emotions are unnecessary. Achieve genetic perfection.  
  
He had known that any offspring he and Beka would produce would be genetically inferior and so he had tried to ignore his feelings. They prevailed however. After weeks of sleepless nights trying to purge her smile, her scent, her laughter from his thoughts, and days spent trying not to fall deeper into her during their lessons that no matter how close he came he could never put an end to; he finally admitted it to himself. He had finally allowed himself to love Captain Rebeka Valentine. Thinking back on that decisive day Tyr stood angrily. Everything was supposed to be better now. But it was not. Beka was strong, resourceful, and intelligent; everything he had always looked for in a mate. Any offspring they had together would not be the genetic infallibility that all Nietzcheans strove for but neither would they be inferior to any Human, or some Nietzcheans for that matter.  
  
Tyr growled softly and started pacing then. Everything was supposed to be better now. Easier now that he had admitted it. It was supposed not to hurt. But it did. My own Nietzschean arrogance, he thought. That's what Beka would call it. Beka. He had never thought that she would not be interested. Only once he had overcome his inbred reservations and started to live his life loving Beka had he noticed it. Tyr had been in numerous sparring matches and battles, he had even been tortured a few times but nothing had ever caused him as much pain as realizing that Beka was only interested in his friendship. Everyday, every moment they were together, every genetically heightened sense he had was tuned on Beka, trying to see, hear, touch, smell any sign that she wanted more from him. But always nothing. Nothing. And so nothing was better, he was in more anguish now than he had ever been before. It would be easier if he could leave her but in his heart and in his mind he knew that he could never do that. She will never be mine, he thought, but I will always be hers. 


	3. 3

Beka woke late the next morning ill rested and with a crink in her neck that would not quit no matter what she did. She had spent so long in the shower hoping the pounding heat of the water would soothe her aching neck that she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Rommie's voice coming from inside her quarters.  
  
"Beka? Are you almost ready to go? Everyone is waiting."  
  
Quickly exiting the shower Beka wrapped a towel around herself and stuck her head out the door.  
  
"God, I'm sorry Rommie, I overslept. Could you pick something out for me to wear while I finish up in here?"  
  
"Of course, hurry though." Andromeda just smiled as Beka's head disappeared back into the bathroom and she began to hear sounds of rummaging through drawers. She quickly went to Beka's closet and pushing aside all the leather pants and black shirts found, pushed all the way into the corner, Beka's dresses.  
  
Brushing on shimmering eye shadow, Beka heard Rommie call, "What colour?"  
  
"It doesn't matter," she called back, "you pick." Damn you Tyr, she thought. It was entirely his fault that she had slept in. She had not been able to get him off of her mind last evening. Pain about his feelings on interspecies relationships had kept her from sleeping for hours. Then when she had finally fallen asleep, she had woken late and was exhausted.  
  
"O.k." said Rommie from the doorway, and handed Beka a dress. Swiftly, Beka pulled it over her head and walked out into her bedroom.  
  
"Here." She said handing Beka a pair of shoes, "put them on."  
  
Slipping them on to her feet, Beka straightened and looked into the mirror. "I've always loved this dress." She said running her hands over the heavy fabric. It was a rich ruby colour. Looking up the refection however, she saw that she looked terrible. She made a face and sighed looking down at herself.  
  
"What's wrong?" Asked Rommie.  
  
"My hair," Beka responded, "blondes were never meant to wear this colour.  
  
"Then why did you buy it? Never mind. We have to go, you don't have time to change. You look fine." With that, she walked into Beka's bathroom and grabbed a tube of red lipstick. Pulling Beka with one hand and carrying the lipstick in the other Rommie walked out the door and in the direction of the Maru where the others were waiting. "Wait." Beka said as Rommie was quickly guiding her down the hall. She took the lipstick from Andromeda and looking into a slightly reflective panel on the wall put it on.  
  
"And," she said looking at her reflection thoughtfully, "I bought this dress when I was wearing my hair brown. It looked much better on me then." With a smile, a slight look of concentration, and a small shake of her head, Beka turned back to Rommie. Carefully flipping the long, now chestnut, strands back over her shoulders she smiled again.  
  
"There's no point in having hair altering nanobots if you don't have fun with them." Glancing back once more at herself in the reflection she started to walk, "Now lets go. Dylan and the others are waiting." Not waiting for an answer she quickly started down the corridor again. Andromeda sighed, then smiled and swiftly moved to catch up with Beka.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Tyr had not slept that night. He had not even tried. All night he had sat on the couch in his quarters thinking about Beka. His thoughts had jumped from one memory of her to another all night long. There was a comfort in that, the images of her, but a pain too. A frustration that she would always be his friend. Never would she claim him as her husband. Never would he be the father of her children. She would always just be his friend. A strange calm had come upon him then, as he remembered a tale his mother had told him long ago. He remembered his father laughing when hearing Tyr tell him what his mother had said. 'My son,' he had answered, 'you lineage and DNA are wondrous. You will never need to know anything about that.' Tyr closed his eyes briefly at the memories of his parents, but when he opened them again they were filled with resolve. His calm grew as he quickly made his decision. He knew what he had to do to appease the pains and desires of his heart. The only problem was that he did not know how to carry out his plan without Beka finding out.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
"Where are they?" Dylan demanded, "If they don't get here right now we're going to be late."  
  
"Patience Dylan." Rev Bem said, "They are here now." Dylan, Rev, and Harper turned as Andromeda and Beka walked through the door.  
  
"Finally! Lets go." Dylan started, then he saw Beka's hair, "Beka wha-"  
  
"Nice hair boss." Harper interrupted, "I always did like you with brown hair."  
  
"Thanks Harper, where are Trance and Tyr?"  
  
"Tall, dark, and nasty as well as my purple princess are already on the Maru."  
  
"Where we all should be." Dylan interjected, "lets not keep the Soku waiting." At Dylan's gesture, Andromeda, Harper, and Beka all climbed the ramp to the Maru. "We should be back by tonight." Dylan said turning back to Rev, "This is just a welcome, the negotiations wont start until tomorrow."  
  
"Very well. The Divine be with you all." They all passed through the Maru's entrance and Beka closed the airlock behind them.  
  
Tyr had heard the airlock close and turned as the group walked on the command deck. Dylan and the ship were wearing their dress uniforms and with surprise Tyr noted that Harper had actually put on some decent clothing. As usual however, it was Beka who made his heart beat faster. Trance came running from behind him then, and was saying something to Beka and fussing over her but he ignored it. She was stunning. The dress she was wearing had long sleeves and fell to her ankles. The red colour beautifully complimented her dark hair. It was glorious, he wanted to reach over and run his fingers through it. Tyr stopped himself. Dark hair? He must have been staring because Beka looked over at him with uncertainty.  
  
"Don't you like my hair?" she asked. Tyr's mouth was dry.  
  
All he could think to say was, "It is different."  
  
He could clearly see her body tense. Damn, he thought, I've hurt her feelings. "Pleasantly different." He said in a soft voice for her ears alone. Beka fought the thrill that ran through her body at hearing his quiet, husky voice.  
  
"Alright people," Dylan said, "lets get going."  
  
"Eureka Maru, you are clear to exit bay 4." Rev's voice said from the deck of the Andromeda.  
  
"O.k." Harper said, "time to get this field trip underway." He deftly guided the Maru out of Andromeda's hanger and started her down to Soku. Beka sat down in her seat as Harper flew them towards the planet. Her hand began to massager her neck absently. Tyr looked over at her.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
"I just slept on my neck the wrong way, that's all. Nothing to worry about."  
  
"Here, let me." He offered, sitting across from her and reaching over to replace his large hands with hers. Beka smiled as, at his ministrations, the tension began to fade from her neck. Sighing softly, her eyes fell closed. If felt to good to just let Tyr take care of her. "That feels perfect." She heard his soft grunt of acknowledgment and sighed again. Tyr did not trust himself to talk as he watched Beka. Her eyes were closed, and her lips parted slightly as she relaxed under his hands. A strand of her now dark hair fell over her face and gently he replaced it behind her ear, enjoying the softness against his fingers. Dylan, Trance, Rommie, and Harper were talking about something but Tyr was ignoring them, focusing of Beka. She was a strong woman, and he knew that she could handle herself but he liked, just for on moment, being able to take care of her.  
  
As Harper brought the Maru through Soku's atmosphere, Tyr reveled in the smooth skin of Beka's neck, Beka basked in the warmth of his strong hands, and they both wondered why things could not be like this always. 


	4. 4

As the Maru landed with a slight bump, Harper stood and with a rakish grin turned, "This is your pilot speaking. We have just landed on the lovely Soku. Please keep your hands, bone blades, tails, and arms inside the ship until it comes to a full and complete stop. Thank you for flying Seamus Harper Air."  
  
With a start, Beka came out of her reverie as she felt the cool air on her neck when Tyr removed his hands. Standing, Dylan gestured to the airlock.  
  
"Shall we?"  
  
"Just one moment," Beka responded, "this time, I'm going to be prepared. I have no intention of repeating a incident like our last visit to a planet." With that, Beka stood and placing her foot on the seat next to Tyr's, quickly pulled up the long skirt of her dress.  
  
Tyr, who had reluctantly taken his hands away from Beka when the Maru landed, could feel his blood rush through his body as he looked over at the exposed skin of Beka's inner thigh. It was smooth and white, like marble. Silk, he corrected himself. The skin looked as smooth as silk. His eyes moved slowly up her body, across her chest, and up her neck to her face. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. With every fiber of his being he ached to be near her, and at this moment, the ache was threatening to tear him apart.  
  
Quickly strapping the gun to her thigh, Beka could feel Tyr's eyes on her. For a brief moment she entertained the idea that he was interested in her bare skin but swiftly squashed those thoughts before they ran away with her. 'He probably just likes my gun.' She thought.  
  
Ripping his eyes from Beka, Tyr stood as she put her foot back down, and the skirt of her dress fell to conceal the weapon strapped to her.  
  
"Dylan," Trance called, "the chancellor has just contacted us. He wants to know if everything is alright."  
  
"Tell him that we'll be right out Trance. If you're ready that is Captain Valentine?"  
  
"Of course my dear Captain Hunt," she said smiling, "lets not keep the Soku waiting." She walked over to the command console and opened the door of the airlock. Dylan and Rommie led the way down the ramp with Tyr, Trance, Beka, and Harper behind them, and towards the waiting Soku.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
Sitting on a small bench in the ornamental gardens of the Soku capital, Beka surveyed the reception. For once the speeches hadn't been completely mind numbing. Short and to the point. 'Glad you could come, we want to be your friends.' 'Thanks for inviting us, we want to be your friends too.' Now everyone was just milling around. The people here were fascinating. The most interesting so far was the half-Perseid, half- Nietzschean minister of education who had given a short overview of the planets history to their group. A Nietzschean and a Perseid, who would have thought? She had been quite something, the bluish skin and elongated chin of a Perseid, but with bone blades. Thinking of bone blades, Beka hadn't seen Tyr since the speeches had ended and the party started.  
  
Looking across the lawn, Beka noticed Dylan, Rommie and Trance talking to two men. One of them was the High Chancellor Dominic Lazarus, but she couldn't tell who the other was. Breaking away from them, Trance quickly made her way over to Beka's seat.  
  
"Hi Beka," she said happily, "having fun."  
  
"Just enjoying the view." She answered, "have you seen Tyr around?"  
  
"Yeah, he's over there under the gazebo talking to some really old lady. Why?"  
  
"I was only wondering. I wouldn't want him to get into any trouble. And you know with all the 'aberrations' around here I wouldn't want him offending anyone." The bitterness in Beka's voice was evident.  
  
"Why do you do that Beka?" Trance asked softly.  
  
"Do what?" Beka responded sharply, bristling under Trance's gaze, "I'm not doing anything."  
  
"O.k." Trance sighed, "I will continue not to say anything about how you feel abou-"  
  
"I really should go and see if Dylan needs me." Beka interrupted.  
  
"Yes," Trance said, sighing again, "you probably should."  
  
With that Beka rose, and moved quickly across the lawn towards Dylan and the group he was standing with. Trance watched her leave with a slight frown. A frown that only deepened when she looked over and saw Tyr's eyes following Beka too.  
  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
  
"Ah, Beka, here you are." Dylan said as she approached. Andromeda and the two men turned as he spoke. "You've already been introduced to High Chancellor Lazarus." He said gesturing to the older man.  
  
"High Chancellor." Beka said, inclining her head.  
  
"Please," he said, "we're going to be friends. Call me Dominic."  
  
"Dominic then," she said, nodding her head again smiling.  
  
"And this," said Rommie, "is Darius Akbari, Minister of Culture."  
  
"Minister." Another nod.  
  
"It is a pleasure to meet you Captain Valentine. I have heard much about you from Captain Hunt."  
  
"None of it good, I'm sure." She said, really looking at him for the first time. He was taller than she was, but not by too much, and his hair was long and glossy black, tied back in a half ponytail.  
  
"Quite the contrary actually," he murmured holding out his hand. "Quite the contrary." He repeated as she took his in her own and shook it. Looking into her blue eyes with his black ones, he smiled. Beka could not help but smile back. Minister Akbari was a handsome man, and his gaze was direct and sensual. Releasing her hand he smiled again. "If you will all excuse me, I see an old friend of mine."  
  
"Of course Darius, don't let us keep you." The High Chancellor said. Turning back to Dylan and Rommie, he began explaining the early economic development of the planet.  
  
Turning to fully face Beka, Darius Akbari took a slight step closer to her. "Again, Captain, it was my pleasure to meet you." His voice was soft and deep. "I hope to enjoy your company on many more occasions."  
  
Beka thought his phrase was a little odd, but then again, she didn't know much about Soku protocols. Darius raised his left hand in what Beka had come to realize was the traditional Soku greeting and farewell. 'Kinda like one of Harper's hi-fives' she thought with amusement, 'only lower, over the chest.' She raised her own hand to repeat the salute, and when she did, Darius gently pressed his hand against her own. Beka was a little nervous. She hadn't seen the others exchanging the greeting touch and she didn't know what to do.  
  
"Until we speak again." He said softly, just above a whisper. Gently, he then traced his fingertips down her fingers and over the palm of her hand. He raised his eyes from their touching hands and inclined his head, then slowly turned away.  
  
Beka quickly walked back to her seat on the bench and simply stared ahead, her body heated, her pulse pounding, and her head a mass of confusion.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(This is a Tyr/Beka story, don't worry I know what I'm doing)  
  
Feedback is greatly appreciated, so please read&review. 


	5. 5

AN: For Flame of Tyr who called me out for deciding to only post new chapters on my website (and rightly so!). Chapter 6 will be along shortly, just waiting for my alpha reader to finish.  
  
CALL-5  
  
"You are a fool, Kodiak."  
  
Tyr jerked his head back around from watching Beka, ready to snap a retort to the old woman, diplomacy be damned. His desire to do so only increased when he realized that she was laughing at him.  
  
"Your age and diluted blood has reduced you to a meddlesome old crone, Soku." He turned to walk, or rather stalk, away; eyes intent on his target. He had watched the man wearily while he had been talking to Dylan but anger was now tearing through him after seeing the way the man had touched Beka. Tyr fully intended to teach him a lesson on propriety.  
  
Her laugh grew even heaver at this. "Come back Kodiak, come back Tyr Anasazi, by Barbarosa, out of Victoria." He did in fact look back at her use of his full name. Her grey eyes were crinkled with her smile, and she gestured for him to come back to her side where he had been sitting for the past half hour.  
  
"I enjoy your company far too much to let you go off on your little rampage just yet. Besides," chuckling softly again and patting his arm as he sat down with the soft creak of leather, "I'm the Matriarch of this Pride and you're the last surviving member of yours, so you have to be nice to me."  
  
Tyr almost succeeded in preventing his smile. His gaze then slid to the man now talking animatedly to someone else, one of the regional governors Tyr thought. "That man is too presumptuous, he should learn respect."  
  
"Really? And why would that be?"  
  
"He should not be behaving in such a manner, this is a public function. He is influencing her towards inappropriate behaviour for a treaty negotiation."  
  
"Yes, I see. You wish for them to conduct their affairs in private?" She was laughing again.  
  
"Why must you mock me, old woman?" He was getting angry again.  
  
"Because it's easy." He stood, furious, but before he could walk she grabbed him just above the elbow and none too gently pressed her bone blades into his forearm. "Sit."  
  
Tyr had been Prideless for many years but the ingrained training of obeying your elders, especially a Matriarch, never leaves you. He sat.  
  
"Now stay there this time. You look foolish sitting then standing, then sitting, then standing again. You don't want to people to think the Kodiak are dimwitted do you?" There was that word again, fool. His body tensed.  
  
"You are young and energetic, taking offence far too quickly at imagined insults." He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off, "You will be silent now and listen." Her voice had a hard edge now, she was a kind, small old woman who liked to laugh, but she was Matriarch and when she commanded obedience was due. "You intended to go over there and teach Darius, propriety wasn't it? You have no right. Not because this isn't your planet or your Pride, but because we both know why he angers you so much and because you have no helix on your arm to give you any rights over her. She has not claimed you and is therefore available to any male who may wish to display for her. If you disapprove of him then display yourself, prove him unworthy. You have known the Captain for quite some time now though, and you haven't yet, therefore I doubt you will. You are afraid. Let Darius have her if she will accept him."  
  
She fell silent then, allowing him to speak. "I am no coward." He whispered. "She will not have me, will not claim me as her husband. She does not find me worthy enough. I love her, but she will not have me."  
  
"Then either you have not been trying hard enough or you are inferior."  
  
He stood once more; this time did not sit again, and walked away. 


	6. 6

AN: Flame, I sent an update when I first posted this chapter on my website a few weeks ago but it couldn't deliver to you for some reason. If you've changed your address, e-mail me and let me know. All hail the Princess Bride!!  
  
**CALL: chapter 6**  
  
_Darius_. A name of kings of old on Earth, a strong name full of power and history, a name worthy of Beka. Unfortunately the man is unworthy of neither bearing that name nor Beka. Tyr knew when he was being manipulated, which he was; and he knew when to let it happen, which was now. He had become entirely too lax from his dealings with the crew of Andromeda, he needed to remember how to be a Neitchean again; how to be a great man, one worthy of being Beka's choice for husband and father of her children. Darius might have been the name of kings, but Tyr was a god. A god of war and justice, and Darius has also been the name of a man executed before ever reaching the throne. Tyr would display for Beka, fight for her favour and he would win.  
  
That of course was the plan.

* * *

Trance, as always, was right where she needed to be.  
  
"Hello dear."  
  
"Hi!"  
  
"This is very amusing isn't it?"  
  
"Only because you're looking at it from the outside. It isn't so funny having to watch Beka lie to herself and Tyr growl even more than usual."  
  
"Well, Darius will mix things up a bit that's for sure."  
  
"Yeah, he's nice. I feel kinda badly. This won't end well for him."  
  
"Don't count him out just yet dear."  
  
"I wonder if I should go and try to help Tyr now or wait until later."  
  
"Wait for a little while, let him taste a bit of defeat first, he'll be more receptive after that."  
  
"He wont be defeated, I just don't want him to embarrass himself doing something too Neitzchean that won't help his case with Beka."  
  
"Why don't you just let him do this himself? If he needs your help so badly, then Darius is indeed the better man. Shouldn't you want what is best for your friend?"  
  
"Oh I do. But what is best and what you think is best are two very different things."  
  
"Well in that case, let the game begin. I've already made my move, I believe the saying goes 'the ball is in your court'."  
  
"The wager?"  
  
"My, you are a feisty little thing aren't you? Alright, I've heard that you are very fond of plants, so am I. I have in my arboretum a night blooming yellow Persied lily, will that do?"  
  
"It very much will. I bet my prize winning Stone vine."  
  
"Very well, we are agreed then."  
  
"Yup. See you later then, we have to go back to our ship now."  
  
"Goodnight dear."  
  
"'Night."  
  
Its one thing, Trance thought as she skipped away, to put your faith in your handsome, educated nephew. It's quite another to go in against Trance Gemini (who _never_ looses) when Tyr and Beka are on the line.

* * *

Beka just could not find the right phrase, word, or inarticulate noise to encapsulate her growing frustration. Just when she'd get comfortable in one messed up emotional situation after another, something would always came along to gum up the works. In this particular instance, it was an attractive, powerful man who, she finally decided, had in fact _absolutely_ been hitting on her earlier. Her only relief was that he wasn't scheduled to attend any of the other meetings they were to have in the next few weeks. It's a shame really, she thought, that I won't have the chance to get to know him better. No! Not its not. I don't need this kind of complication in my life right now, I just need to focus on staying sane.  
  
Insanity picked exactly that moment to arrive, along with the creaking and muffled jingling of his leather and chain mail.  
  
"Dylan wants us back at the Maru, its time to go."  
  
"Is it? Already?"  
  
"You've been sitting her for almost an hour entirely unaware of your surroundings. I had hoped to have taught you better than that."  
  
In Tyr's defence he only sounded strained because he was trying not to think about Beka staring off into space for exactly 43 minutes thinking about that man. To Beka though, he sounded disgusted and she suppressed a wince. Then she suddenly got very, very angry.  
  
"Please forgive me Tyr, I'll probably never live down the shame of not being a good enough Neitzchean."  
  
Beka stormed across the lawn not knowing why she was angry. Tyr followed at a distance also not knowing why she was angry. Trance trailed them both, trying to figure out what she was going to do to fix this. 


End file.
